Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen is one of the most popular comic books of all time. It’s been a best seller since 1987, has never been out of print, has been adapted into a movie, video games, role playing game, and now a TV show. It is the single comic book appearing on Time Magazine’s list of 100 best novels. And, as we talked about way back on our comic book syllabus episode, it’s one of the most common comics taught in college classes. But why? What has made it so popular, and what is its cultural significance? And why do so many people have such complicated (and arguably wrong) opinions about what it’s plot and themes? Hannah, Wayne and Mav are joined by an all-star panel of comic nerds — including Travis Bow of the Watchmen Minute podcast, Jim Dietz of the We Watch Watchmen podcast, and returning guest, comic artist Marcel Walker —to discuss the history of the Watchmen, its adaptations and the subculture that surrounds it.
Citations and Links:
- This episode’s Call for Comments
- Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
- Watchmen film adaptation by Zach Snyder
- Watching Watchmen by Dave Gibbons
- Watchmen HBO TV show by Damon Lindelof
- Peteypedia HBO TV show supplement
- Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner
- Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank
- Minutes to Midnight: Twelve Essays on Watchmen
- Watchmen as Literature: A Critical Study of the Graphic Novel by Sara J. van Ness
- Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach Test by Mark D White
- Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen letter
- Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story (free PDF) by Alfred Hassler and Benton Resnik
- Order Chutz-Pow! from the Pittsburgh Holocaust Center
- Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme
- Visit Marcel Walker’s website.
- Hear Travis on the Watchmen Minute podcast
- Hear Jim on the We Watch Watchmen podcast
- Follow Hannah on Twitter: @hannahleerogers
- Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick
- Follow Wayne on Instagram: @tetroc2017
- Follow Mav’s Personal Blog: http://chrismaverick.com
- Follow Wayne’s Personal Blog: http://wayne-wise.com
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